Consultation & Services
OUR GOAL
Our goal is to provide organizations and individuals with the strategic and practical support they need to incorporate accessibility into their events, offerings, and daily practices in order to build a more inclusive world for everyone, with a focus on the disabled community.
OUR APPROACH
At The Disability Collective, we believe that accessibility is something that everyone can benefit from, and something that everyone can achieve. We approach our work and partnerships with patience, compassion, understanding, and excitement. You are taking the steps to prioritize inclusivity, and that is amazing. We understand that it can be daunting, but we are here to help, whether you already consider yourself an access ally or are new to accessibility and access measures. We strive to create an environment that is collaborative, productive, and positive so we can work together to build a more inclusive world.
WHAT WE OFFER
ACCESS 101 FOR ORGANIZATIONS, VENUES, PRODUCERS, AND/OR ARTISTS
Wondering where to begin when making your practices, production, or overall organization more accessible? Our Access 101 seminar will go over the basics from language and etiquette to access tools, tips, solutions, and best practices, providing you with effective and attainable first steps to becoming an access champion.
ACCESS ON A BUDGET
We know that access and inclusion can often feel overwhelming, unattainable, and quite frankly, unaffordable. We completely understand and are happy to share that this does not have to be the case! Access on a Budget will provide you with cost-effective and attainable access tips and solutions that you can easily incorporate into your practices at little to no cost.
HOW TO CREATE AN ACCESSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE AUDITION ROOM AND REHEARSAL SPACE
True inclusion means creating audition and rehearsal spaces where all artists feel safe and have a sense of belonging. This collaborative presentation will equip you with creative, effective, and attainable ideas on how to ensure that everyone can access the opportunities that you are offering, in order to create art that reflects the world around us.
MAKING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE
People cannot come to your production or apply for your show if your audition notice or cute little Instagram graphic isn’t accessible! We will walk you through the basics of making your social media content, e-blasts, PDFs, and websites accessible to everyone.
ACCESS 101 FOR ORGANIZATIONS, VENUES, PRODUCERS, AND/OR ARTISTS
Wondering where to begin when making your practices, production, or overall organization more accessible? Our Access 101 seminar will go over the basics from language and etiquette to access tools, tips, solutions, and best practices, providing you with effective and attainable first steps to becoming an access champion.
ACCESS ON A BUDGET
We know that access and inclusion can often feel overwhelming, unattainable, and quite frankly, unaffordable. We completely understand and are happy to share that this does not have to be the case! Access on a Budget will provide you with cost-effective and attainable access tips and solutions that you can easily incorporate into your practices at little to no cost.
HOW TO CREATE AN ACCESSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE AUDITION ROOM AND REHEARSAL SPACE
True inclusion means creating audition and rehearsal spaces where all artists feel safe and have a sense of belonging. This collaborative presentation will equip you with creative, effective, and attainable ideas on how to ensure that everyone can access the opportunities that you are offering, in order to create art that reflects the world around us.
MAKING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE
People cannot come to your production or apply for your show if your audition notice or cute little Instagram graphic isn’t accessible! We will walk you through the basics of making your social media content, e-blasts, PDFs, and websites accessible to everyone.
RELAXED PERFORMANCE CONSULTATION
Welcome the neurodiverse and disabled community into your venues and productions! Led by one of our team members who is part of the neurodiverse community, The Disability Collective provides tailored consultation on how to adjust your production to be a Relaxed Performance. Every show and space is different, and we will be with you every step of the way, helping to adjust lighting and sound cues, creating a pre-show introductory speech, setting up a quiet space, and assisting with the dialogue around promoting your Relaxed Performances and training your staff on the basics.
PRODUCTION ACCESSIBILITY CONSULTATION
Take the steps to improve access for your production in order to create a space that is inclusive for all, helping to grow and diversify your audiences. The Disability Collective will work with you to find access solutions that are within your budget and best meet the needs of your production, space, cast and crew, and audience.
ORGANIZATIONAL ACCESSIBILITY CONSULTATION
Ready to improve access and inclusion in your organization as a whole? We are here
to help. The Disability Collective will conduct an audit of your organization with a focus on areas that you are most interested in working to improve. We will work with you to define the scope of the audit and implement strategies, including resources and attainable steps on how to achieve the goals set out.
Are you a writer, director, producer, or casting director looking to include disabled folks in your piece? The Disability Collective is here to help you create work that reflects the world we live in, and ensure that you are representing disabled folks in an appropriate and accurate way. We are happy to provide guidance at any stage of your creative process, including:
- Consulting on scripts and/or script development
- Assisting with the recruitment and casting of disabled actors
- Consulting on the accessibility of your set, rehearsal space, or audition room to ensure that it is accessible and productive
- Assisting with basic training for the crew, creative team, and/or staff to ensure that everyone is creating an environment that is inclusive and welcoming (this can include language and etiquette best practices for marketing and media training)
Please Note – The Disability Collective is made up of a team of unique individuals; however, if we feel that we do not have the lived experience or knowledge to assist with your specific project, we will do our best to connect you with an individual who can provide you with accurate and appropriate guidance.
ACCESS GUIDE (PREVIOUSLY REFERRED TO AS A VISUAL STORY)
The Disability Collective will curate and create an access guide tailored to your production or event. Access Guides inform audiences about the access measures featured in your event and help prepare them for what to expect at the show with information such as content warnings, plot summaries, cast introductions, and more.
VENUE GUIDE
The Disability Collective will curate and create a venue guide tailored to your space and production or event. Venue Guides help prepare your audiences for how they can best access your event, including things such as transit/driving directions, parking/accessible parking options, information on accessible washrooms and seating, details on the event itself, and specific details about the venue including information on stairs, elevators, ATMs, staff, volunteers, and more.
RESOURCES FOR AUDIO DESCRIBERS
The Disability Collective has a list of wonderful and qualified Audio Describers that we have worked with in the past and would be happy to recommend and recruit for your project. We will be sure to set up your Describer with everything that they should need to ensure that your accessible performance and the preparation leading up to it all goes as smoothly as possible.
RESOURCES FOR ASL DEAF & HEARING INTERPRETERS
The Disability Collective has a list of wonderful and qualified ASL-English interpreters and Deaf Interpreters that we would be happy to recommend and recruit for your project. Unsure of what you may need for your production or event? We would be happy to chat with you and get you set up with an interpreter that meets all of your needs. Leading up to the project or performance, we will ensure that your interpreter is set up with everything that they should need to ensure that the preparation and accessible performance goes as smoothly as possible.
CAPTION YOUR CONTENT
Improve access to your video by providing your viewers with captions. Captions were specifically created for the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing community; however, over 50% of Canadians now use captions in their day-to-day life. The Disability Collective can create captions for any video content and can provide consultation on how to integrate captioning into your live events.
IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS / VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS / ALT TEXT
Improve your digital accessibility and overall SEO with Image Descriptions, Video Descriptions, and Alt Text. The Disability Collective provides individual image and video descriptions, alt text, audits of web pages resulting in an image/video description and alt text for everything that requires one, and/or a continuous partnership to provide descriptions and alt text for all of your social media content.
CIRCULATION / PROMOTION / OUTREACH
Looking to promote an event or get the word out about your accessible and inclusive practices? The Disability Collective would be more than happy to share your content with our loyal and diverse following via Instagram, Facebook, and/or e-blast.
Holding an event or seminar centered around the arts or access and inclusion? The Disability Collective would be thrilled to speak on your panel or to your audience, sharing their lived experiences as disabled artists, producers, and access and inclusion consultants.
FEATURED CLIENTS
Just For Laughs Toronto
Fall For Dance North
Tapestry Opera
WKP Kennedy Gallery/The Capitol Centre
Toronto Fringe Festival
The Theatre Centre
Luminato Festival Toronto
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
TO Live
Creative Industries North Bay
Kim Kitchen in the Studio
“As an artist wanting to make my exhibition work inclusive, I reached out to The Disability Collective to guide and assist me in reaching a broader audience. Their knowledge base, considerations, attention to detail, scope of practice and support has been greatly appreciated and valued. I am deeply grateful to The Disability Collective and their ongoing work and service to creating inclusive communities.”
RATES
Let’s build a more inclusive world together! For rates and more information, contact us at [email protected].
At The Disability Collective, we strongly believe that accessibility should be accessible. We work on a sliding-scale model that is tailored to each individual client and project in the hopes of reducing financial barriers for artists, young organizations, and marginalized folks.